Cups are drinking vessels in common use today. A typical cup has an opening through which a person may sip or place a straw to withdraw the beverage. Users drink from cups under a wide variety of circumstances in which the beverages are highly susceptible to being unintentionally spilled. These circumstances include, for example, operation of a vehicle, participation in sports, walking, etc. Due to the fluid nature of beverages, spills commonly occur through the open mouths of cups when the cups are jarred, tipped, dropped, or subjected to sudden movements. Since users obviously wish to prevent accidental spills, securing the beverage within the cup is important.
One proposed solution for eliminating accidental spills associated with cups employs the use of a lid that snaps onto the rim of a cup. These lids are commonly found in fast food restaurants and coffee outlets. The lid has one or more holes to allow a user to access the beverage. By reducing the size of the opening through which the beverage exits the cup, the likelihood of spills is subsequently reduced. However, these lids fail to eliminate accidental spills. The beverage can still escape through the openings despite their reduced size. For instance, while in the upright position the beverage can splash out of the cup through the openings if it is jarred. Alternatively, if the cup is tipped onto its side, the beverage can still pour out of the cup through the openings. If the cup is dropped, the lid can be dislodged from the cup and the entire contents of the cup can be lost.
Another proposed solution involves a cup and a lid that is secured to the cup by a threading engagement. One variation of this solution further requires a lid having a hole formed therein for the purpose of allowing a straw to pass through the lid. This variation also includes a cap to be manually placed on the end of the straw in order to seal the beverage within the cup. Another variation involves a pop-up vent on the lid which seals the cup when the vent is manually pushed down and permits beverage to exit the cup when the vent is pushed up. In both variations, the threading engagement secures the lid to the cup to prevent the lid from being dislodged from the cup if it is dropped. Both variations also effectively prevent a beverage from splashing out of the cup if the cup is jarred in a substantially upright position. However, unless the user manually places the cap onto the straw or pushes down the pop-up vent, the beverage can spill out of the cup if it is tipped onto its side.
Yet another proposed solution is an automatically sealing cup as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,866. Unfortunately, while the cup disclosed therein has much improved sealability, small amounts of beverage can still leak out of this cup while the cup is in a sealed configuration. Further, it is difficult to clean portions of the cup. This is disadvantageous in that if these cups are frequently reused, such as for children, they must be cleaned and washed before and after each use.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved automatically sealing cup, and for a cup which eliminates spills while it is in a sealed configuration. Also, there is a need for such a cup which further permits the user to readily clean the entire cup device.